The Good, the bad, and the ugly nature of sport.

Sport like movies and a good drama are able to bring out every human emotion possible. The night the Socceroos played Uruguay in the World Cup Qualifier it had every Australians heart racing a million miles an hour. When Captain Mark Viduka missed his spot kick in the penalty shoot out, Australian hearts sunk but when John Aloisio scored that final penalty there was nothing but pure joy and excitement from Australians every where.

It is the amazing ability to bring out so many emotions in the human race that have led to many different faces and incidents in the sporting world. Having been involved in the sporting world since I was four years old I have been witnessed to many foul events and amazing events. Far from being the model good sport I witnessed on the weekend at two different fields and games good, the very bad and the ugly nature of sport. During the game that I was involved in one opposition player abused both his own team mates and mine. He verbally abused players during the course of the game for no apparent reason. Later on I attended a friend’s soccer game to witness a spectator who was over the age of 50 abusing a ground official. Although this spectators team was winning the man proceed to taunt and abuse a ground official threatening to take care of the gentlemen in the car pack. During the abuse tirade kids as young as four years old heard the colorful language this gentlemen let fly at the poor ground official.

So why does sport, which at the end of the day is just a GAME lead a man of his age and many others to this ugly monster?

What is it in the hearts and minds of so many Australian people that leads them into a doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde situation. What is it about sport that is able to bring the worst out of humans?

I wonder whether this phenomenon is only isolated to Australia or whether or not this Doctor Jekyll or Mr Hyde syndrome is a worldly occurrence. Currently in sporting magazines, television ads and during sporting events messages and ads are being run to encourage positive talk and behavior at sporting games. Why does sport have the ability to bring out so many good and bad emotions in human beings?

What drives parents to verbally abuse their children, other people’s kids? Is it winning at any cost what drives parents and people to do this? What is embedded in sporting culture that leads to such bad behavior. Is winning held in such a regard these days that it leads educated people to act like cavemen. Answering this question may be able to explain why so many athletes will take banned performance enhancing drugs. Using methods to enhance the chance of winning and the ideal of winning at all costs is not something new. In the very first days of the Olympics athletes in Ancient Greece used magic mushrooms and other methods to win. Has this ugly mentality and culture embedded in our make up?
If this mindset has been embedded into our system for a very long time how do we lose the ugly nature of winning at all costs and sport. What do governments, sporting bodies and ourselves must do to lose the ugly culture of sport??